I Admire Ralph Waldo Emerson
Be yourself if you ever hope to have inner peace, in the essay “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson he wrote about it way back in the mid 1800’s. Here are some of the key points to ponder……………
Emerson begins his work on individualism by asserting the importance of thinking for oneself rather than meekly accepting other people's ideas. The person who scorns personal intuition and, instead, chooses to rely on others' opinions lacks the creative power necessary for robust, bold individualism. This absence of conviction results not in different ideas, as this person expects, but in the acceptance of the same ideas, now secondhand thoughts, that this person initially perceived.
To rely on others' judgments is cowardly, without inspiration or hope. A person with self-esteem, on the other hand, exhibits originality and is childlike unspoiled by selfish needs, yet mature.
The non-conformist in Emerson rejects many of society's moral sentiments. For example, he refuses to support morality through donations to organizations rather than directly to individuals. The concrete act of charity, in other words, is real and superior to abstract or theoretical morality.
Emerson states that it is better to live truly and obscurely than to have one's goodness extolled in public. It makes no difference to him whether his actions are praised or ignored. The important thing is to act independently: "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think . . . the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
Outlining his reasons for objecting to conformity, Emerson asserts that acquiescing to public opinion wastes a person's life. Those around you never get to know your real personality. Even worse, the time spent maintaining allegiances to "communities of opinion" saps the energy needed in the vital act of creation, the most important activity in our lives, and distracts us from making any unique contribution to society. Conformity corrupts with a falseness that pervades our lives and our every action”.
Emerson notes the enemy of the independent thinker: society's disapproval or scorn. Although the scorn of "the cultivated classes" is unpleasant, it is, according to Emerson, relatively easy to ignore because it tends to be polite. However, the outrage of the masses is another matter; only the unusually independent person can stand firmly against the rancor of the whole of society. Emerson points out that history's greatest thinkers were branded as outcasts for their original ideas — and scorned as such by their peers.
Society is not the measure of all things; the individual is. We must "scorn appearances" and do what is right or necessary, regardless of others' opinions or criticisms.
[c=#7700B2]What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Emerson begins his work on individualism by asserting the importance of thinking for oneself rather than meekly accepting other people's ideas. The person who scorns personal intuition and, instead, chooses to rely on others' opinions lacks the creative power necessary for robust, bold individualism. This absence of conviction results not in different ideas, as this person expects, but in the acceptance of the same ideas, now secondhand thoughts, that this person initially perceived.
To rely on others' judgments is cowardly, without inspiration or hope. A person with self-esteem, on the other hand, exhibits originality and is childlike unspoiled by selfish needs, yet mature.
The non-conformist in Emerson rejects many of society's moral sentiments. For example, he refuses to support morality through donations to organizations rather than directly to individuals. The concrete act of charity, in other words, is real and superior to abstract or theoretical morality.
Emerson states that it is better to live truly and obscurely than to have one's goodness extolled in public. It makes no difference to him whether his actions are praised or ignored. The important thing is to act independently: "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think . . . the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
Outlining his reasons for objecting to conformity, Emerson asserts that acquiescing to public opinion wastes a person's life. Those around you never get to know your real personality. Even worse, the time spent maintaining allegiances to "communities of opinion" saps the energy needed in the vital act of creation, the most important activity in our lives, and distracts us from making any unique contribution to society. Conformity corrupts with a falseness that pervades our lives and our every action”.
Emerson notes the enemy of the independent thinker: society's disapproval or scorn. Although the scorn of "the cultivated classes" is unpleasant, it is, according to Emerson, relatively easy to ignore because it tends to be polite. However, the outrage of the masses is another matter; only the unusually independent person can stand firmly against the rancor of the whole of society. Emerson points out that history's greatest thinkers were branded as outcasts for their original ideas — and scorned as such by their peers.
Society is not the measure of all things; the individual is. We must "scorn appearances" and do what is right or necessary, regardless of others' opinions or criticisms.
[c=#7700B2]What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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